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Just one Patriots football was significantly underinflated, report says

Footballs used during first half of AFC title game under question

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Updated: 4:10 PM EST Feb 1, 2015

Flickr/Geoffrey FairchildSOURCE: Flickr/Geoffrey Fairchild

Just one Patriots football was significantly underinflated, report says

Footballs used during first half of AFC title game under question

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Updated: 4:10 PM EST Feb 1, 2015

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —

May this spell the end of 'deflate-gate'?

According to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, just one of the 12 Patriots football used in the first half of the AFC Championship game two weeks ago was underinflated by two pounds per square inch, contrary to a previous report from ESPN.

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Sources told Rapoport that while 11 of the 12 footballs were found to be under the league minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch, 10 of those footballs were just "a few ticks under the minimum."

ESPN reported soon after the 'deflate-gate' scandal surfaced that 11 of the 12 Patriots footballs used in the first half of the AFC Championship game against the Colts were significantly underinflated, but the NFL Network's sources would seem to refute the ESPN report.

Rapoport also reported that the Patriots turned over security footage to the NFL that showed that a game-day employee working for the Patriots -- a man described as elderly -- took the balls into a restroom for 98 seconds before making his way to the field for the Jan. 18 game.

The report said it was unclear if there was a security camera inside the restroom.

The NFL's investigation is being led by Ted Wells, who said it would take several more weeks.

The Patriots won the AFC Championship game 45-7 over the Colts and reportedly played the entire second half with properly inflated footballs.